Monday, October 31, 2011

D - serts

I've gone a bit low and high brow with a dessert fest lately. From my cheech n chong inspired stoners delight and the naff little cupcake to some more challenging kitchen experiments.

White chocolate cupcakes


White chocolate cupcakes
Here is the problem. I have come to hate cupcakes. Truly hate them. They are the food equivalent of the highschool boyfriend that made you gush and then snap...you couldn't stand the sight of them; remember it was as if their very presence (usually after about a fortnight) could make you feel physically ill. 

But I really truly do love cake. That's a relationship I'll never give up on. And that dam little c.cup truly is the perfect little bite of sponge and icing. So some cupcakes with a little white chocolate inspiration because, well I have quite the thing for  white chocolate of late.


Ingredients


For the c's
125g caster sugar
125g butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
150g plain flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup white chocolate, melted


Top it off
75g butter
250g icing sugar
75g white chocolate, melted
1 tbspn water


Bake em
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Beat the butter and sugar, eggs and vanilla in a mixer until thick and fluffy. Gently stir through the white chocolate then gradually add the flour and baking powder and beat for about 30 seconds until just combined. Spoon into muffin cups in a muffin tray and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until golden and firm.


For the icing, combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Top each cupcake with abandon. A cupcake is not a cupcake without a heavy swirl of icing.



Stoners Delight
Stoners Delight Ice cream



Stoners Delight
Confession. I wanted to build a gingerbread house. I'd cracked it with the hansel and gretel style architecture and thought I'd bake myself a gingerbread terrace a la Sydney style. Oh it was going so well. I had my veranda, I had curly wurly for the lattice on the front and licorice straps for the shutters on my windows. I did wish I could live there - it was almost bigger than the place we are in. Then the damn wall collapsed. So rude! I guess what is a Sydney terrace without a bit of rising damp.

I didn't want to waste the sea of gingerbread I had lovingly baked so I decided to make gingerbread ice cream. Then I randomly added popcorn. And marshmallows. And caramel. And it was de-li-gh-t-fu-l! Then I decided to go all out and put my ice cream in its own pastel striped boat. Houses were obviously beyond me but a pre-made wee boat. All over it. 
This weird and wonderful combo made me wish I had the munchies. I don't actually need to be stoned to have that kind of hunger but this dessert - well I sort of wish this was around when I was stoned. It probably would have made the process a lot more fun. But, let's be honest, I'd eat it either way. You should too. 

Cause I wanna make tuile.
Spiced chocolate custard with strawberry fruit tuile and  turkish delight crumble



Just to say I can make a fruit tuile. And that I have. And that I wouldn't actually recommend it.It's a whole lot of effort and I dare say Uncle Toby's roll ups could do the trick and they are probably far more readily available than isomalt and xantham gum. I also burnt the shize out of my fingers and now my neighbours think I have Turrets syndrome. I could actually go wild and commit all sorts of crimes and there ain't a damn chance of me leaving any fingerprints. Do they grow back? Good lord it hurts. Meh. Perhaps I should get stoned. 


I'll post the recipe tomorrow. Hopefully by then the pads of my fingers will be back.

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